


safe with you.

by amberlazuli



Category: HELIOS Rising Heroes (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Introspection, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Relationship Study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28927908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberlazuli/pseuds/amberlazuli
Summary: It’s always been like that with them, close but notthatclose, and it’s not even Faith’s fault.Not completely, anyway.  He’s long since accepted that there are some things Billy will never tell anyone, and that’s fine.It is.
Relationships: Faith Beams/Billy Wise
Kudos: 14





	safe with you.

**Author's Note:**

> I've been poking at this basically since Chapter Six was released in the game but I've tried to keep spoilers vague enough that as long as you know they're at a training camp, you should be fine to read! As always, I have a lot of Thoughts about these two and the easiest way for me to get them out is by writing self-indulgent fic.

“I’ve discovered a DJ~”

“As if you didn’t know I was here,” Faith is less annoyed than he thought he would be about being interrupted. It’s not as if he’s outside for any particular reason—besides a general desire to get away—but the sound of rain is surprisingly relaxing.

“Here, hot chocolate with extra marshmallows,” the mug is shoved in his face and Faith accepts it with a nod of thanks. “Scooch.”

“ _Or_ you could get your own chair,” Faith replies, though he knows that’s unlikely considering the firepit is a decent distance away and the downpour from earlier still hasn’t let up.

“Hmm, nope!”

“Figures,” Faith squishes himself against the side of the chair to give Billy room, since the alternative is Billy just sitting on his lap or something. “Wh—”

“Here,” Billy manages to somehow drape a blanket around both of them without spilling any of his own cocoa, and while Faith won’t thank him for that _,_ it does cut the chill pretty effectively. “Good?”

“Yeah. Where’s everyone else?” he figures it’s only polite to ask.

“All you need to know is that we won’t be bothered,” Billy assures him, flashing a quick grin before his nose is buried in his mug.

And really, that’s answer enough. Faith’s long since learned that where Billy’s concerned, just accepting what he says is far easier than digging.

Faith busies himself drinking, knowing that Billy can only handle silence for so long, and just waits for him to speak.

“So! Last night, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Happy to leave?”

Faith pauses, listening to the sound of rain hitting the roof of the building and nothing else. “Surprisingly not as happy as I thought I’d be at first. I bet you are, though.”

“Mm, this has been much more bearable since rescuing my honey,” his hand slips down, likely to check that his phone is still in his pocket. “But I just feel…”

“Stuck. Yeah,” Faith gets it, if only because he knows how Billy is _._ “Hard to get intel out here.”

“Every moment I’m not working I feel like I’m wasting time,” Billy sets his mug down beside the chair and leans forward. “I hate it.”

“Hey,” Faith sighs and wraps an arm around Billy’s shoulders, tugging him closer. “Sometimes it’s good to shut off for a while, y’know? I’m not saying like...unplug completely, because you’d die, but nothing is that urgent.”

“Sage advice, DJ,” Billy leans against him. “I wish I could believe it.”

“Mm,” Faith sips at his drink again. “Personally, having a valid excuse not to go on dates has actually been kinda helpful. It’s much harder for girls to find me when I’m not actually in the city.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Billy snorts, though there’s no real heat in his voice. His head rests gently on Faith’s shoulder, though he shifts a bit so that he can pull a lollipop out of his jacket pocket and stick it in his mouth.

There’s silence once more, the rainfall only interrupted by the rather annoyed hooting of a nearby owl. Billy’s shoulders are trembling and Faith absently adjusts the blanket.

“Cheer up a little, would you?” Faith’s hand skims idly up and down the sleeve of Billy’s jacket. “Think for one second how many people would kill to be where you are right now.”

“True enough,” Billy yanks his goggles down, letting them rest around his neck. He looks worn down, and Faith knows he’s not getting the whole story and it’s likely he never will.

It’s always been like that with them, close but not _that_ close, and it’s not even Faith’s fault.

Not completely, anyway. He’s long since accepted that there are some things Billy will never tell anyone, and that’s fine.

It is.

“Thanks for today,” he finally says. “For going along with me.”

“Thanks for having a plan,” Billy glances sideways at him. “I was…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Faith says firmly, his hand sliding into Billy’s hair now and holding him in place. It’s not a move anyone else would get away with, and quite frankly he’s not sure if he will, but Billy goes limp against him. “It worked, and I know you had my back. That’s what matters.”

“Of course I did. Do,” Billy amends, voice unnaturally quiet. “You’re a good leader, DJ. You’ll make a good mentor one day.”

“Says who?” Faith snorts, because that’s a lot to consider.

“You will,” Billy’s _so_ still under his touch.

“Thanks, I guess,” Faith laughs quietly, his fingers tightening a little. “You say that like you’re never going to be one, though.”

“Mm, well,” Billy crunches on his lollipop. “I mean, if the incentive is sharing a room with you, I might be more tempted~”

“We’re sharing a room right now,” Faith reminds him.

“Not the same, DJ!” Billy sounds offended that he would even suggest something like that. “Besides, if there’s one thing I can take away from today, it’s that we make a good team.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Faith doesn’t disagree, but he’s not going to give Billy more ammo to keep going with that line of thought. “You can ask Ochibi-chan, though; he’ll tell you I’m not in the room most nights anyway. Either I stay at the club until closing or…”

Billy doesn’t really respond to that, other than to attempt to pull away, but Faith doesn’t let him.

“Yeah, I guess it’s better this way!” his voice is too-bright, bordering on shrill, and Faith immediately knows he should have chosen his words more carefully. Normally Billy doesn’t care and brushes off comments like that, but he’s obviously in a fragile emotional state and Faith had kinda trampled all over that. “It’s better than having you come home smelling like someone else’s perfume!”

“Billy,” Faith sighs. “Look, I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” Billy promises, reaching to pat Faith’s leg. “Just...I don’t care if you don’t feel the same, but leave my heart a _little_ intact, okay~?”

“Is this too much?” Faith’s not sure changing the subject will gain him any points, here, but better to move on as quickly as possible. “I can…”

“It’s fine,” Billy yanks the lollipop stick out of his mouth and drops it in his empty cup. “I’d still take being a mentor with you over not being with you any day.”

“Cool,” Faith lets his fingers loosen a little, his hold less intense now. “You wanna head in?”

“This is okay,” Billy promises, though Faith can see his fingers twitch towards his pocket before he drums them against the arm of the chair instead.

“If I tell you not to…”

“Well, I listened to you today, right? Maybe I just need the right sort of person giving me orders~” he’s teasing, but he’s not _,_ and Faith knows he’s going to be thinking about that one for a while.

“Don’t look at your phone until tomorrow,” Faith drops his voice and the _noise_ Billy makes at that directive is fascinating, to be sure.

“Fine, fine, but in return...you let me share your bed tonight ♡,” Billy’s pointedly not looking at him and Faith lets out a heavy sigh. “Renren’s a heavy sleeper but I don’t know about…”

“I mean, I don’t remember Will ever waking up that much when we were roommates at the Academy, but it’s not like we were super close,” Faith shrugs. “It’s fine, if you want. We’re just sleeping, right?”

“Yep!” Billy assures him, his mood suddenly brightening. “Oh! Wait, this doesn’t count,” he grabs his phone anyway and holds it up. “Smile, DJ.”

Faith kind of smirks at the camera instead, but they’re not doing anything particularly incriminating so he doesn’t mind. It’s not a picture Billy’s going to post, anyway.

“Okay, cutting myself off starting now,” he actually powers his phone off before shoving it away. “You’re probably the only person in the world I would do that for.”

“I know,” Faith places his now-empty mug down and wraps both of them up more tightly in the blanket. Billy feels properly relaxed now, letting Faith hold most of his weight. It’s...not horrible, all things considered.

Not that it ever has been, despite his reactions most of the time. Billy’s far too observant and Faith always feels laid bare in front of him, like all his secrets are out in the open, and considering how tightly he holds onto most things...yeah, that’s kinda scary.

It goes both ways, though, since Faith probably knows Billy better than most people and that sort of...shared understanding between them is just another aspect of the relationship that’s developed over the years.

It’s got nothing to do with Billy himself, anyway, but admitting to anything more feels far too dangerous right now.

Billy’s fingers tap absently against his, not really asking for anything, and Faith wonders how much he actually expects.

The thing is, of course, that if Faith pulls away he’ll claim to be teasing and laugh it off, but…

“If you wanna hold my hand so bad, do it properly,” Faith pitches his voice low, so low that it can barely be heard over the splatter of raindrops hitting the dirt.

“Yeah?” Billy gives him the barest sideways glance before his fingers tighten around Faith’s. He’s not even wearing gloves, which is another rarity, and Faith wonders just how many people he’s ever allowed to see him with all of his walls down like this.

Faith kind of wants to say something, but nothing feels right, and Billy seems content to stay there so maybe the best thing to do right now is not break the moment. He runs his thumb over the back of Billy’s hand, leaning their heads together.

This lasts for about two minutes before Billy predictably has to _move,_ and he shifts enough to sit up properly. “Hey. Want a refill?”

“Yeah, sure,” Faith knows this is code for ‘I need to go somewhere else and think about what just happened,’ but if it gets him another cup of hot chocolate, there’s really no reason to stop Billy from leaving.

“I’ll see if I can find those chocolate marshmallows I bought you, too,” Billy snaps his goggles back into place and stands, stretching out his back. He pulls his phone out of his pocket, waving it in front of Faith. “Want this? Just to make sure I’m keeping my promise?”

“I’m kinda worried if I touch it, it’ll self-destruct on me or something,” Faith laughs. “I trust you.”

“Do you, though?” Billy’s voice goes soft again and Faith reaches out without thinking to curl their fingers together again.

“With this? Yeah,” Faith decides, letting go quickly, and Billy lets out a little humming noise before scooping up their mugs and heading back into the building. Faith knows the question was far more loaded than that, but again...he’s not ready for that conversation.

Maybe it makes him a coward, or maybe it’s just understandable caution on his part, but either way it’s not something he has to dwell on right now.

He shivers a little and pulls the blanket closer, cold without Billy’s warmth at his side. He’s already done a lot more contemplating than he’d planned on tonight, so he guesses it might be okay to just take things as they come for the next few hours.

Maybe that can be _his_ promise.

He won’t tell Billy about it, of course, but even if he’s the only one who knows...that’s all that matters for now.

He’s sure of that.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed, and if you'd like to find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/EndlessRondo) and yell about these boys with me, please do!


End file.
